It was an odd sight. Both Chad Pennington and Laveranues Coles did not play a snap Sunday and watched their teammates battle the Redskins from the home sideline.
“Even when we’re not playing out on the field, we’re extremely competitive and cheering for our teammates,” said Pennington, who is now the Jets’ backup signalcaller. “We’re into the game. We’re not talking about what we're getting to eat after the game or anything like that.”
Excluding byes, you have to go back nearly seven years — Game 13 in 2000, against Indianapolis — to find a weekend when neither participated in NFL action. Coles, the Jets’ 2006 MVP, saw his regular-season consecutive start streak snapped at 104 after he suffered a concussion against the Bills and did not practice all last week.
“It brings tears to your eyes," Coles said. "I had to actually get up and leave the locker room when guys were getting dressed because generally that is me getting dressed. "It was different for me. I was disappointed in myself that I wasn’t able to go out there with my teammates and get between those lines with them. I always prided myself on being there for my team and I wasn’t able to be there for them yesterday.”
Coles, who played his first three pro seasons with the Jets, has credited Pennington for a 2004 trade that brought the 5'11", 193-pound wideout back to New York. On Sunday, Coles chatted with his friend about some of his former Redskins teammates.
“He played with a lot of those guys," Pennington said, "and had some experience with them as far as their secondary, how those guys play, and what we were seeing on how they were trying to attack us."
Coles normally attacks opposing secondaries himself, but the doctors were ones who slowed him down this week. He got a call from Wayne Chrebet last week but refused to pick up, knowing his good buddy was going to advise him not to play.
“It was one of those things that I had to let go until I finally got over it,” he said. “Now I get the green light to go out there and be with my teammates again, and I’m cool again.”
Indeed, Coles will be back at practice Tuesday. He and the rest of the Jets have a short week before departing Wednesday afternoon for an extended weekend. The Green & White won’t play until Nov. 18, when they host the Pittsburgh Steelers at the Meadowlands.
Pennington doesn’t have a timetable. His role has changed, but as a backup passer he knows he can be called on at a moment’s notice. Kellen Clemens, the Jets’ second leading rusher Sunday with 48 yards, was on the receiving end of a couple of pops from the Redskins.
“I was doing some stretching on the sideline. I was making sure I was ready to play because you never know in this game,” Pennington said. “It only takes one hit, one instant and you’re thrown back into the fire.”
While Coles feels healthy, Pennington said he felt like he was injured yesterday because he couldn’t help on the field. He continues to encourage Clemens and his thoughts remain with the present and not the past or the future.
“I don’t see much of anything," he said. "I just see the next day, the next practice and the next opportunity to get better.”
